I’ve often been quite critical of the Arctic Monkeys in the past. I’ve complained about them for loads of reasons; on loads of occasions.
Whether this is because I don’t like something about their music or whether I just like being a contrarian, I don’t know. Or maybe deep down I feel like Alex Turner robbed me of my rightful place as Sheffield’s darling hero. Regardless, it doesn’t really matter because if i’m being honest with myself I really like the Arctic Monkeys and the large majority of the music they’ve made. Time after time I find myself going back to their albums. When the appeal of albums I would claim to hold in much greater esteem has worn thin, I can always go back to any AM album and still enjoy it. And I would bet most of the people that, like me, grew up with the Arctic monkeys albums would say the same. For my generation, AM albums seem to have a strong sense of time and place, the albums are pinned to teenhood memories. They’re the band of my era; they’ve stayed relevant long after their peers floated away and they’ve consistently put out great work. As well as a sense of time and place, AM albums each have a firm individual identity. With its wry commentary of nightlife minutia and charming kitchen sink drama depictions, Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not is supported by a delightful tone of youthful indie post-punk. With slower, sombre moments like ‘505’ and the ‘Only Ones Who Know’ showing the band’s growth and maturity, Favourite Worst Nightmare is juxtaposed by the blistering pace of tracks like ‘Balaclava’ and ‘D is for Dangerous.’ With its creepy psychedelia, Humbug painted darker picture’s with shadowy corners with uneasy sounds. However, this lineage of memorability seems to come to a stop at Suck It And See.
Suck It And See is the forgotten child…
Suck It And See was undeniably a commercial and critical success. It was met with strong reviews and reached number one on the UK album chart. However, what Suck It And See’s release lacked was the energy and excitement that had accompanied their previous releases. There just wasn’t the buzz that would usually come with a new AM release in a Sheffield secondary school. Perhaps the AM hype train was just slowing down a bit after its furiously charging first releases, or perhaps the lazy White Album rip off cover art failed to ignite intrigue quite as much as it had for The Beatles. But personally I attribute the album’s quiet release to its singles. It’s truly crap singles. ‘Brick By Brick’ is by far the worst track on the album, and a strong contender for their worst ever. The song is grating, the deep backing vocals are off putting and lyrics about wanting ‘to rock and roll’ are probably the lamest Turner has ever uttered. ‘Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair’ isn’t nearly as bad as ‘Brick By Brick’ but it too suffers from corny lyrics and flaccid concepts. Although it is somewhat redeemed by its cock rock riffs.
Why the band chose two of the worst songs on the album to release as singles is beyond me. However, Suck It And See’s issues in ambivalence didn’t stop at its release. Since then, Suck It And See has fallen further into obscurity. I never hear the album’s tracks played in bars or shops; the album rarely comes up in conversations about the band and people rarely sight it as one of the band’s better albums. No one wanted to suck and see. I think the album’s lack of remembrance is a real shame because it was a really great album, and is the one that I find myself revisiting the most.
I’m the first to admit that I’m a sucker (no pun intended) for a good hook, and Suck It And See is overflowing with really great hooks. ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalala’ is a good track in its first half but when its hits that two minute mark it explodes. Everything comes together perfectly, the groove change on the bass, the shimmering guitar and the vocals really coming alive. And this is a theme that runs through a number of tracks on the album. They start off well, with that instant 60’s pop sound that melts in your ears, while still retaining that very Arctic Monkeys signature. Strong starts but nothing great by AM standards. It’s in the second half the band really take off: ‘That’s Where You’re Wrong’, ‘Reckless Serenade’, provide those moments in music that make you smile. If this is what you’re after, Suck It And See will do the trick.
As well as the best hooks in their discography, the album also gave us the best love song the Arctic Monkeys have ever released, in the shape of ‘Love is a Laserquest’. The track rolls around the drum kit hypnotically while the guitar complements the repetition with a gentle up-down pattern, setting the stage perfectly for Turner’s poignant lyrics. He questions the one that got away and tells her of his efforts in finding a method of pretending she was just some lover.
On the subject of lyrics Suck It And See comes at a time when Turner was at the peak of his transition from quippy one liners and smart anecdotes to delicate abstractions and vague metaphors. I don’t necessarily think this style is better than his early work, it’s certainly less catchy but nevertheless it has its merits. And its merits are never better exemplified than in ‘Piledriver Waltz’. Turner weaves a melancholic story of breakfasts at the heart break hotel, pamphlets on losing and miserable waitresses. Illustrating the picture with such cryptic lines as: ‘I etched the face of a stopwatch, on the back of a raindrop,’ Turner really captures and communicates the mood of the scene well. It’s poetically up in the clouds and grimly stuck to the floor all at the same time.
Suck It And See probably isn’t the best album AM have put out, but what it does well - it does with flying colours. It’s not the most original and arguably the least “Artic Monkeysish” but if you haven’t revisited ‘Suck It And See’ in a while, I can’t recommend it enough… you might find something you missed the first time.
